Blog Post Archives

Modernizing Healthcare: Your Proactive Cyber Defense

July 19, 2022/in Blog Post Brittany Demendi/by Adlumin Staff

Modernizing Healthcare: Your Proactive Defense is a part of Adlumin’s Cyber Blog and industry-specific content series. For more information about how your organization can protect itself from cybercriminals, browse more from our knowledge-rich series here.

This past year cyberattacks have continuously stolen headlines as cybercriminals target large corporations. Specifically, the healthcare sector leads by industry with the most breaches. HIPPA Journal reported on IBM Security’s Data Breach Report stating that healthcare data breaches are the most expensive compared to any other sector averaging $9.42 million per incident. Healthcare providers are forced to cancel surgeries, outpatient procedures, and other critical patient care because of forced operation disruptions—emphasizing the severity of damage that these breaches cause. In fact, a study by Vanderbilt (2019) found an increase in negative patient outcomes (typically in time-sensitive treatments) following ransomware service outages.

When health records are exposed, patient privacy is at risk. Healthcare records are the most valuable data set on the dark web and, as such, are lucrative targets for criminals. Moreover, medical data breaches can lead to monumental penalties under HIPPA’s Privacy and Security Rules. The best proactive defense is to equip your frontline workers with the skills to recognize and report suspicious activity. A comprehensive and actionable cybersecurity framework requires a robust and tailored cybersecurity training program for all employees.

The Value of Healthcare Data

Healthcare data has a high black market value because it typically contains multiple pieces of sensitive (financial, insurance claims, etc.) information for one individual instead of one piece of information found in other industry breaches (like an email address). Due to the desirability of individuals’ profiles, there is a substantial monetary gain for cybercriminals. One report values stolen healthcare records at $250 compared to $5 for a stolen credit card.

What Makes the Healthcare Industry Vulnerable?

While lucrative records attract criminal activity, the data-sharing, transient nature of healthcare providers creates an additional opportunity for exploitation. Traditionally patient records reside in several clinical information systems, including electronic medical records (EMR) or healthcare records (EHR), and PACS, DICOM, or RIS systems in medical imagery, often operated on legacy systems.

HIoT/IoMT internet-connected devices such as patient telemetry, dosage metering, and other patient wearable devices have grown in adoption year over year. And the next phase of digital disruption is ushering in machine learning-assisted detection and even predictive roles in the evaluation of tumors, robot-assisted surgery is on the rise in remote communities, drug management and dispensaries are connected to CIS systems, and even non-medical systems like automated facilities management pose a threat.

Vulnerability 1: Outdated Legacy Systems

The leading causes of data breaches within the healthcare industry are outdated legacy systems and cybersecurity unawareness, which go hand in hand. While replacing legacy systems is the safest option and improves practitioner and patient experiences, it’s often impractical or out of budget. These legacy systems (often no longer supported by the vendor) leave organizations vulnerable to cyberattacks through easily accessed “back-door entry” into systems holding patient information and medical data. These legacy systems often lack third-party support. Finding the essential support to fix or address issues can be challenging when technology is outdated or cannot be updated without causing a domino effect disruption to other services.

Solution:

Healthcare organizations must prioritize and align with a Managed Detection and Response (MDR) platform. These platforms detect, anticipate, and prevent malicious threats across a healthcare organization’s network. Not only do they anticipate threats, but features such as a User Entity and Behavior Analytics (UEBA) within an MDR platform take data from individual users and entities such as servers, workstations, and endpoints and ingest it into the platform for baselining expected behavior. This allows for total network visibility when tracking behavioral patterns.

In addition, MDR platforms can offer Continuous Vulnerability Management (CVM) to close the gaps between security assessments and significantly reduce risk. This cloud-based service gives organizations immediate visibility globally into where their IT systems are vulnerable to the latest threats and how to protect against them.

Vulnerability 2: Cybersecurity Unawareness

Employees who use devices without adequate training on cybersecurity protocols immediately put your organization at risk for a data breach. Human error is deemed one of the top reasons for breaches as employees face increasing threats in their email inboxes, web browsers, and networks. Everyone who handles patient data needs to understand their responsibility and role in recognizing a cyberattack.

Solution:

Implementing a proactive defense program, typically with third-party providers, empowers employees with the proper skills to identify and report suspicious activity. A proactive defense program is fully managed security awareness testing and training designed to reduce the risk posed by cybercriminals. Training is vital within the healthcare sector to comply with set policies and industry regulations by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) of 1996. Conducting simulated phishing campaigns to employees can dramatically improve your cybersecurity posture.

Prioritizing Proactive Defense

Healthcare data breaches are destructive and impact patient outcomes. Implementing proper cybersecurity standards across your organization goes a long way to shutting down dangerous opportunities without sacrificing services. Ramping up your cybersecurity proactive defense program doesn’t have to be daunting and is usually outsourced to a third party for cost-effectiveness.

Modernizing healthcare systems improves communications between doctors and patients through protected and monitored smartphone apps, telehealth software, and texting. Additionally, it improves operations, resulting in better healthcare delivery, lower costs, and a more efficient workforce. By actively addressing your healthcare organization’s vulnerabilities, you can enhance the quality of care and advance in the industry. To succeed in this effort, you must create a cybersecurity culture to ensure that employees and staff members are an asset instead of a vulnerability.

How to Strengthen Healthcare Cybersecurity

July 15, 2022/in Blog Post/by Adlumin Staff

Cybersecurity and patient privacy go hand in hand within every healthcare organization. There is growing federal scrutiny, which is changing things for the healthcare industry. HealthTech takes a deep dive into how to strengthen your cybersecurity, the costs associated with cybersecurity, and tips to support your cybersecurity strategy.

“Recovering from a ransomware attack will cost a healthcare organization $1.85 million, on average, and take about a week to resolve, according to Sophos’ most recent report.
Healthcare organizations are also more likely than organizations in other sectors to pay the ransom, but when they do, they may not get back all their data. And just 78 percent of healthcare organizations have cyber insurance coverage, according to Sophos’ “The State of Ransomware in Healthcare 2022.”
As healthcare systems face the daunting proliferation of cyberthreats and vulnerabilities, the federal government has continued to keep a close watch on the sector. The landscape has drastically evolved since HIPAA was signed into law in 1996.
This spring, the U.S. Senate introduced the PATCH Act, a bipartisan bill targeting medical device security. In a statement of support for the legislation, the American Hospital Association wrote, “Cyber vulnerabilities in medical devices, often containing outdated legacy technology, have posed a significant cyber risk to hospitals.”
With increased government scrutiny and a volatile threat landscape, healthcare organizations may also experience insurers demanding to see stronger cybersecurity controls in place in response to major losses from cyber coverage during the pandemic. Purchasing cyber insurance without understanding the requirements or the extent of coverage needed could end up being more of a hindrance than a help.”

Read the full article here.

The Science of Cybersecurity and The Human Element

July 12, 2022/in Blog Post Kevin O’Connor/by Adlumin Staff

By Kevin O’Connor, Director of Threat Research at Adlumin, Inc.

The “Human Element” of cybersecurity is often one of the most challenging aspects to manage when considering the defense of a network. At Adlumin’s Threat Research group, we work to merge the science of cybersecurity with the mindset of how users and threats engage with Information Technology (IT) systems. Let’s dive deeper into how the human element manages both the defense of networks and the threat against them.

Defense

The most evident area where the Human Element plays into the defense of IT systems is anywhere there’s user interaction with the system, which has a security-relevant context. Users need not only to be trained on how to use their system – but also on the basics of end-user cybersecurity to prevent simple attacks like drive-by-downloads and attachment-based malware.

Phishing

One of the biggest threats facing the human-machine interface is phishing. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Computer Information Security Agency (CISA) says that “phishing attacks use email or malicious websites to solicit personal information by posing as a trustworthy organization [or source].” While true, what’s missing in this definition is that phishing attacks are one of the most popular ways attackers will gain access to a user’s system through malicious attachments, such as macro-enabled malware or malicious links, to gain a foothold in a targeted network.

Defending Against Phishing

Technical controls exist which can help mitigate the threat of phishing-related attacks. Email filtering appliances/applications can automate the heavy lifting of denying known-bad actors that have engaged in more extensive and previously seen campaigns. The further application of machine learning in the message content is also promising. From there, security administrators can implement controls to scan or block attachments or mitigate specific technical vulnerabilities like macro-based malware by disabling macros or denying permissions to run downloaded attachments or other ‘online’ sourced software.

Getting closer to the human element controls that require users to participate in opening links actively can help. To avoid users accidentally clicking on a malicious link, applications like Outlook can disable links in emails requiring the user to manually copy and paste links from their email into their browser to visit sites ($LINK). This extra step can go a long way in getting the human behind the keyboard to think about the site they’re going to.

But these controls are either; incomplete, limiting, or require some level of user participation. Without proper training on identifying phishing and malicious emails, users can still fall prey to craftily composed messages or spoofed or compromised accounts from legitimate senders. The risk stemming from this human element-based threat must be mitigated through training, monitoring, continual awareness, and testing. Adlumin partners with KnowBe4, which offers user training, and we’ve integrated KnowBe4 phishing capabilities into our platform ($LINK).

Credential & Business Email Compromise

Another human element in cybersecurity that needs consideration is the Credential and Business Email Compromise (BEC). The FBI says Business Email Compromise is

“One of the most financially damaging online crimes. It exploits the fact that so many of us rely on email to conduct business—both personal and professional. In a BEC scam, criminals send an email message that appears to come from a known source making a legitimate request.”
FBI, 2020

The risks BEC and other account compromises have to a business are potentially devastating. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reported $43 billion in cost between June 2016 and December 2021 (IC3, 2022 Business Email Compromise).

Credential and Business Email Compromise can be costly and is an evolving threat, with IC3 also reporting that there’s been an introduction and then an increase in the use of Virtual Meeting Platforms in conducting the attack (IC3, 2022 Business Email Compromise: Virtual)

These are often fundamentally human-centric attacks relying on combinations of social engineering or stolen credentials to bypass the need for in-depth technical exploitation or gain an initial foothold against a target network or business.

Defending Against Credential & Business Account Compromise

Technical controls can help mitigate credential compromise or BEC, including implementing 2-Factor Authentication wherever possible. Mandatory password expiration can also limit the time an exposed account or credential can be used for malicious purposes.

Logging, monitoring, and Auditing user accesses can help identify potential cases of account compromise by looking at the user’s typical activity and alerting or taking Security Orchestration Automation and Response (SOAR) action when there’s abnormal or suspicious activity. Adlumin is an example of a Managed Detection and Response (MDR) platform that can help identify and act on such malicious activity. Adlumin uses machine learning algorithms for User & Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) to help detect and respond to illicitly used credentials and accounts. Adlumin will monitor, track, and alert on expired credentials and accounts.

Another vector for credential compromise and BAC is through Darknet and other public data breaches and account/credential dumps. As a Human Element, users often reuse passwords across multiple accounts or will use business emails (and possibly shared passwords) on platforms that are then compromised. These compromised credentials can be a great source of intelligence for attackers, potentially giving them validly credentialed access to the compromised account. Defending against this, tools like Adlumin’s Darknet Exposure Module can monitor for exposed credentials on the Darkweb and alert or take immediate SOAR action before attackers can exploit them.

Sources:

Computer Information Security Agency, CISA (2022, August 25). Security tip (ST04-014). CISA. Retrieved June 10, 2022, from https://www.cisa.gov/uscert/ncas/tips/ST04-014

FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation (2020, April 17). Business email compromise. FBI. Retrieved June 10, 2022, from https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes/business-email-compromise

Internet Crime Complaint Center, IC3 (2022, February 16). Business email compromise: Virtual meeting platforms. Business Email Compromise: Virtual Meeting Platforms. Retrieved June 10, 2022, from https://www.ic3.gov/Media/Y2022/PSA220216

Internet Crime Complaint Center, IC3 (2022, May 4). Business email compromise: The $43 billion scam. Business Email Compromise: The $43 Billion Scam. Retrieved June 10, 2022, from https://www.ic3.gov/Media/Y2022/PSA220504

9 Ways To Make Cybersecurity Awareness Training More Engaging

July 11, 2022/in Blog Post/by Adlumin Staff

Cybersecurity awareness training doesn’t have to be boring. Real Leaders explores 9 ways to make it more engaging with your employees. When humans are the number one reason for data breaches, it is imperative to create a security culture in every department.

“Phishing was responsible for the highest number of cyber compromises in 2021. As a result, more and more businesses are investing in security training and awareness initiatives.

New evidence proves that regular training exercises can positively influence security culture and enable employees to defend against ransomware-laced phishing attempts and related social engineering attacks.

Having said that, nearly all (85%) of employees are disengaged at work. That’s why it is imperative for organizations to design programs that encourage training participation.”

Read the full article here.

What Is Cybersecurity Awareness?

July 6, 2022/in Blog Post/by Adlumin Staff

What is cybersecurity awareness training, and what works best? Cybercriminals work hard to exploit careless employees’ mistakes- the adage is true that humans are the weakest link. We Live Security explores several trends highlighting the urgent need for you to implement a cybersecurity awareness training program.

“Research reveals that 82% of data breaches analyzed in 2021 involved a “human element.” It’s an inescapable fact of modern cyberthreats that employees represent a top target for attack. But give them the knowledge needed to spot the warning signs of an attack, and to understand when they may be putting sensitive data at risk, and there’s a huge opportunity to advance risk mitigation efforts,” according to We Live Security.

Read the full article here.

3 Simple Steps to Creating a Cybersecurity Culture

July 5, 2022/in Blog Post Brittany Demendi/by Adlumin Staff

88% of data breaches are caused by an employee’s mistake, researchers from Stanford University found. Balancing technical and social elements of an organization can address the most significant cybersecurity vulnerability: people.

Security awareness is crucial, and it must be integrated into everything a company does. Still, the harsh reality of cybersecurity awareness is that security culture has not been able to keep up with the threat landscape. When people are left with the responsibility of their own devices, do they make the right decision when faced with a malicious link? Well, let’s see.

What is Security Awareness Training, and Why do You Need it?

Cybersecurity awareness training is a form of education that security and IT professionals use to mitigate employee risk. Practical security awareness training causes employees to feel accountable for their actions and understand the security risks associated with their efforts in identifying cyberattacks. Lessons and programs help employees and users understand their role in their company’s security plan to help combat malicious activity.

In 2021, data breaches cost on average $4.24 million, a 10% rise from 2020, according to IBM’s 2021 Data Breach Report. These costs can cause many organizations to fold. As a company, you are responsible for equipping your employees as your first line of defense by setting them up for success. Below are a few ways to build a productive and proactive security culture for your employees and organization.

Ways to Build a Culture Focused on Security:

Security Belongs to Every Department

Cybersecurity has evolved and become an essential part of your organization. Security belongs to every employee regardless of department. All parties are accountable and actively contribute to the organization’s security culture. This can be achieved by equipping each person with security basics and the knowledge to judge threats.

Cybersecurity awareness is an ongoing activity, while training is a proactive action that needs to be taken on behalf of your organization. Grow your security culture by having teachable moments through mock threat campaigns, training, and teachings using real-world examples. After employees have been provided with the proper awareness and knowledge, then comes accountability.

Recognize and Reward Employees for their Security Efforts

Actively seek out opportunities to celebrate employee success. When an employee completes mandatory cybersecurity awareness training, give them something in return. A simple reward or gift card motivates people to get their training done and will cause them to remember the cybersecurity lesson that gave them $50 to their favorite retail store. When the goal is to proactively defend your employees from falling victim to cyber schemes, the return on investment outweighs the cost of the reward.

The other side of a sustainable reward is career growth for team members in dedicated security roles. This will motivate your team to remain dedicated to your organization’s values and overall mission, which will protect your brand reputation and security protocol. If cybersecurity is necessary for your company culture, prove it by providing your security professionals with good and long-standing growth opportunities.

Implement a Proactive Defense Program

Practical cybersecurity awareness training emphasizes engaging your employees to reduce user risk. It is best to implement a robust training program that doesn’t just deliver a one-off session that overwhelms employees with information that they will soon forget until the next training. For training information to become salient, it needs to be persistent and delivered in small doses (quarterly is suggested) to fit every employee’s busy plates.

Proactive defense programs use real-life de-weaponized attack campaigns to test employees, including phony email phishing attacks. They also implement training to ensure your organization complies with set policies and industry regulations as well as track and continue to train high-risk users who fail attack campaigns. According to the Foundry Security Priority Report, 62% of organizations have planned to outsource some of their security functions over 2022; with employee awareness training being a top reason, third-party options are considered the most cost-effective solutions.

How to Play your Part:

The type of culture that you build at your organization directly impacts your success. If security is not a part of that culture, it will likely fail. The suggestions above are just the beginning—there’s so much more to securing your organization, but this is a great place to start. After all, wouldn’t you rather be proactive instead of reactive?

Keep Learning:

Beyond Compliance Security: Awareness Training that Protects Every Organization
- Not all security training and testing programs are created equal. Discover how building and deploying effective programs involve more than simply putting together a presentation, taking attendance, and deploying a phishing tool test.
Remote Work and The Human Error: 3 Major Challenges
- As the world begins to return to our new sense of normalcy, opting for remote work has reached record heights. With such significant change comes growing pains, and security risks soar as the line blurs between home and work- read the top 3 challenges now.
Threat Intelligence: The Human Element of Cybersecurity
- Threat Intelligence is actionable, timely, and provides context to threats. Explore what organizations should invest in threat intelligence and what threat hunting is about.

Next Steps:

Request a demo with an Adlumin cybersecurity expert if you are ready to get started.

What is Cisco Duo? Here's What You Need to Know

June 29, 2022/in Blog Post Massie Hussaini/by Adlumin Staff

Adlumin is pleased to announce an integration with Cisco Duo. Duo is the leading provider of unified access security and multi-factor authentication delivered through the cloud. Duo’s solution verifies the identity of users and the health of their devices before granting them access to applications, helping prevent cybersecurity breaches.

Duo provides secure access to your applications and data, no matter where your users are – on any device, from anywhere. Duo’s adaptive Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) creates trust in users, devices, and the applications they access. Cisco, one of the largest networking and communications suite of security products, provides a different suite of protection that is being added to the Adlumin product. Below is a view of a sample alert from Cisco Duo:

Adlumin’s integration with Duo allows users with a Duo account to import their authentication events into Adlumin’s centralized security system. This automatically provides machine learning-based threat analysis, incident management, custom threat detection filters, geolocation reports, and more. Our integration queries the public Duo API endpoint every 15 minutes for authentication logs, pulling data such as usernames, hostnames, IP addresses, authentication devices, and more.

Human Error Continues to Drive Numbers on Cybersecurity Attacks

June 27, 2022/in Blog Post/by Adlumin Staff

Checking the box for your organization’s cybersecurity training annually doesn’t quite cut it anymore. Cyberattacks are rising yearly, and one of the top reasons is human error. Taft dives into the best approach to managing privacy and cybersecurity and how to create a more innovative, more attentive security culture.

You might think your run-of-the-mill privacy and cybersecurity training is sufficient. You might think that by “checking the box” on generic training you have fulfilled your duty and obligation to mitigate data privacy and cybersecurity attacks. You might think that general malware protection adequately secures your company’s data and you can move on with your everyday business efforts without concern. Think again. Human error continues to be the number one driver of data breaches. Over 85% of all data breaches are caused by an employee mistake. (Source: Psychology of Human Error by Stanford University Professor Jeff Hancock and Tessian, a cybersecurity firm.) “Human error” can take many forms from the use of stolen credentials and misuse of company information to phishing or malware links. Cybercriminals and hackers have developed advanced and creative tactics in efforts to access and steal confidential information. Malware attacks, for example, are attacks where hackers attempt to infiltrate networks, individual computers, and mobile devices with malicious software. An unassuming click to open a link or download software is all it takes to enable a malware attack. Social engineering tactics are often used to get employees to send bank account information, provide usernames and passwords, among other confidential information. Psychological manipulation is the bread and butter of social engineering. Such efforts intentionally target human interactions by tricking persons into thinking they are receiving an email from a trusted source, perhaps a friend or a business partner. Email content may consist of an urgent request, portray legitimate branding to make the email appear trustworthy, request your “verification” of information, or pose as a boss or coworker. Employees need to be trained and continuously reminded to be mindful when conducting business. Technology can only take us so far in protecting businesses and securing information from cybersecurity attacks, especially with respect to social engineering. In the hustle and bustle of everyday business, it is easy to flit from email to email, shooting off quick responses without even glancing at the subject line, or the name or email address of the sender. Some of the simplest requests from a seemingly innocuous email can lead to the leak of very valuable information. Do you recognize the sender’s email address? Are there spelling mistakes in the content of the email? Is the company or individual name familiar to you? Cybersecurity attacks can be incredibly costly, causing financial, mental, and emotional heartache from the click of a button. Aside from financial ramifications, data breaches and cybersecurity attacks may reflect negatively on your business’s reputation, cause you to lose clients or customers, and may even lead to significant litigation proceedings and hefty government fines from breach of regulatory violations. The best approach in managing privacy and cybersecurity training is a proactive one. A primary goal should be to create a smarter, more attentive security culture within your business.

Read the full article here.

Adlumin Inc. is a patented, managed security services platform built for corporate organizations that demand innovative cybersecurity solutions and easy-to-use, comprehensive reporting tools.

4 Cybersecurity Best Practices for Financial Institutions

June 21, 2022/in Blog Post Brittany Demendi/by Adlumin Staff

Targets for cybercriminals are chosen based on two conditions: impact and profit. Financial institutions meet both requirements while offering various profit paths through theft, fraud, multi-channel extortion, and ideological impact. Malware and data breaches lead the charge, and incident costs continue to rise. Security Magazine reports that 75% of data breaches in 2019 were all within the financial services industry. While other industries are in the criminal crosshairs, the Willie Sutton idiom holds firm stating that people rob banks because that’s where the money is. Security Magazine also highlighted the magnitude of financial institutions not being equipped to protect their adapting IT environments: migration to cloud-based services, mobile and bring your own device (BYOD), and remote workers. For example, Capital One and Discover each experienced their fourth significant data breach in 2019.

To avoid becoming another victimized financial institution, below are a few suggested cybersecurity best practices to safeguard your business:

Mitigate Risk Associated with Third-Party Vendors

Financial institutions rely heavily on third-party vendors to facilitate operations and extend new service offerings and ways of engaging new customers. While customer-facing services appear seamless under a united banking brand, operations are comprised of multiple organizations of varying security capabilities. A failure or compromise in one of the links of the vendor chain leads to reputational damage to the bank’s brand rather than the invisible vendor behind the curtain. In other words, the cyber risk resides with the bank.

Cashless and frictionless financial services are in high demand. Consumers access funds and payments through mobile apps they assume are secure. The organization that owns the consumer relationship must audit its vendors, mitigate associated exposure and build a plan to respond to incidents before they affect consumers.

The ever-evolving threat landscape, daily publication of vendor vulnerabilities, and growing compliance demands make vendor management challenging. Here are a few key guidelines:

Minimize third-party risk by:

Conduct a risk assessment and establish minimum security guidelines with each partner.
Limit vendor access to crucial assets. For example, marketing services should access customer contact information, not core banking data.
Communicate your compliance requirements and align security programs to protect your customers.
Establish security event and incident protocols and notification requirements.
Monitoring your network using threat detection and automated solutions.

The New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) published the Cybersecurity Rules and Regulations (NYCRR500), which includes practical guidelines to secure third-party risk (section 11).

Stay Up to Date with Compliance Regulations

As we have touched on in a previous blog post, compliance is constantly evolving in response to emerging threats. The financial sector is not immune to this change. Keeping up with the latest regulations is essential to ensure credibility and avoid costly investigations and penalties. The goal is to be compliant, regardless of the industry’s ever-changing landscape. Shifting this burden from your internal team to a third-party vendor can help ensure your financial institution achieves compliance.

In addition to existing regulations in the last two years, the financial sector has implemented a few new ones. Any financial institution is at risk of a cyberattack. Regardless of company size, data breaches snowball into complicated situations. They can cripple an organization and end in legal proceedings or disputes that take years to resolve. Meeting cybersecurity compliance standards mitigates risk and the havoc that comes with it.

Make Your Employees Part of Your Defenses

The majority of data breaches or massive ransomware outages start with social engineering and clever phishing campaigns. Frequent cybersecurity testing awareness training provides context and the skills to identify suspicious communications and emails before your employees become unwitting accomplices by clicking dangerous or downloading infected documents.

Like cyber threats, awareness training must evolve. Training is about empowering, not punishing. It does not identify the “Ten Commandments of IT” but to understand how criminals target them and how to identify their calling cards. Covering multiple forms of campaigns like texting and fake IT calls is important, but phishing remains the primary vector.

“In 2021, 83% of organizations reported experiencing phishing attacks. In 2022, an additional six billion attacks are expected to occur,” according to Cyber Talk. Phishing attacks are a top concern for IT decision-makers, so training employees should be at the top of the priority list.

Your employees are the first line of defense against most threats, including phishing scams. Employees across all departments within your company need to be equipped with the proper knowledge of spotting a phishing scam and reporting it.

Implement Continuous Threat Monitoring

In 2016, a cybercriminal wired themselves $81 million in a Bangladesh Bank heist, using the SWIFT banking network in only a couple of hours. This is a perfect example of how imperative it is to have 24/7 surveillance across your entire IT landscape. The quicker you can identify and eliminate a potential threat, the better off you will be in the long run—early detection is essential.

Financial institutions typically use a 24/7 Security Operations Center (SOC) service to enhance threat detection and response times by continuously scanning your network and host for vulnerabilities. Hiring third-party experts is the most cost-effective solution for securing customers and their transactions. When financial institutions carry the heavy burden of protecting their clients, it is best to proactively work with managed security services built to discover threats and command action.

Additional Resources:

For more information and tips on cybersecurity, visit Adlumin’s Cyber Blog.
Request a demo with an Adlumin cybersecurity expert if you are ready to get started.

Continuous Vulnerability Management - Complexities of the Remediation Process

June 14, 2022/in Blog Post Miguel Hablutzel/by Adlumin Staff

The Center for Internet Security (CIS) describes Continuous Vulnerability Management as “a plan to continuously assess and track vulnerabilities on all enterprise assets within the enterprise’s infrastructure, to remediate, and minimize, the window of opportunity for attackers. Monitor public and private industry sources for new threat and vulnerability information.”

Cyber defenders must have timely threat information about software updates, patches, security advisories, threat bulletins, etc. They should consistently review their IT environment to look for these vulnerabilities before cybercriminals do.

Managing and understanding vulnerabilities is a continuous activity, requiring the focus of time, attention, and dedicated resources.

Organizations face challenges in scaling remediation across an entire enterprise, and prioritizing actions with conflicting priorities, while not impacting the enterprise’s business or mission.

Often, remediating vulnerabilities requires expertise beyond the deployment of a simple patch.

For example, a configuration change and deploying a patch to remediate the Spectre/Meltdown vulnerability are required. Also, vulnerabilities need different types of patches- for example, some need an update to a customer software or a registry key change without a patch.

Researching, understanding, and mapping the vulnerabilities to the remediation actions are complex and time-consuming tasks. Many organizations fail to complete this process quickly and efficiently because they don’t have an expert and dedicated team that can map the vulnerabilities to the proper remediation and, at the same time, evaluate the potential operational risk introduced by changes to the environment.

Organizations can minimize operational risk by moving towards a proactive remediation approach. This approach demands selecting the right vulnerability management solution that will deliver the capability to streamline the remediation process by automatically mapping the vulnerability to the correct patch(es) required in your specific environment.

Additionally, the solution should also streamline the application of patches for compliance by creating a zero-touch patch job to automate vulnerability remediation based on criteria that apply uniquely to your organization. This should reduce operational risk and remediation time, helping security teams align with regulatory and internal security policies.

Finally, the solution must make sure that endpoints are quickly and consistently patched, via the cloud, regardless of their location or connection to an organization’s network, which reduces the cost of securing a primary vector of attack. Eliminating the need to go over VPN for patching can save time and significantly reduce costs.